Laurie Towner & family on the road
We recently spoke with Surfer Laurie Towner to hear how life's been, doing an apprenticeship as a designer, pattern maker and product developer for needessentials while chasing waves with his family on the road as they work remotely from a small caravan for 6 months.
How did this family road trip come about?
It’s always been a dream of our family to travel around Aus. My wife Bron had been looking at caravans for a couple of years then we found this older model standard pop-top close to home. When we went and checked it out it had barely even been used and looked like it would suit us perfectly. I’ve been working steadily with needessentials founder Ryan Scanlon doing an apprenticeship in a design role for the last year and can now do some parts of this new role using my laptop on the road - plus the kids are at a great age to travel and learn from experiences along the way.
What’s the travelling setup?
I already had an old 80-series Landcruiser I bought from a mate’s dad a couple of years ago after my old Hilux blew up. It’s worked out to be the perfect car to take around Australia and tow the camper. I didn’t have to do a whole lot to it, just put in some drawers, a second-hand fridge and the dual battery. My mate welded up a bit of a roof rack set for us and I’ve got a little inflatable zodiac up there next to some of the surfboards.
How many boards do the Towner family travel with?
We’ve got an absolute quiver of surfboards – Bron’s got a mid-length Nav Fox single fin, Chase has got his little 4’10”, Isla’s got a little 5’2” fibreglass board but she wouldn’t let us leave without her soft-top as well, which has been amazing over here in the desert: we took the fins out of it and the kids have been bombing the sandhills! I’ve got an 8’0" and a 7’5”, both pretty girthy for bigger bombie waves, a 6’8”, 6’6”, 6’4”, two heavy 6’2” shortboards, a standard 6’1" shortboard for turns, 6’0" and 5’11" fun boards and a Ryan Burch green twinny that my good mate Bryce Young gave me. Normally I break boards - that’s why I brought so many! They all have their place: you never know what’s going to be in front of you. Then under the kids’ mattress in the camper, I’ve got a timber Alaia that I shaped. I thought I’d take it because surely somewhere’s going to have the perfect point with a howling offshore wind on it making it smooth. I haven’t had a good session on it yet but I’m glad I’ve got it with me because it'll happen eventually! All the boards have got a place - the majority are on the roof of the car, the two bigger boards are on top of the camper and I also rigged up some solid board racks inside the car by taking off handles above your head and fixing screws to hold stainless wire covered with thin rubber tubing, so I have 2 or 3 boards ready to go at all times.
Where have you travelled so far?
I started the trip with a minor rib injury that had put me out of the water, so basically we went straight inland and spent a bit of time on a family friend’s property up in the mountains, a beautiful area where you’re staying just about as high as the clouds. Then we came back to a soft right-hand point on the coast to have a bit of a surf to see how my ribs felt and let Bron and the kids have a surf. I was feeling ready to paddle large surf, then a swell popped up on the Sydney South Coast area so we just sort of made a bee-line right for it, still a little bit unsure if I’d be okay to surf or not but I thought I’ll go look at the waves and see how I feel. My first proper surf back in heavy waves was a 4 to 6 foot reef break down on the south coast with my friend and shaper Dylan Longbottom. It wasn’t perfect and a bit bumpy so I fell on a few waves and caught a few waves and sort of went, well I feel pretty good, so I put a bit of padding on my ribs for a bit and basically from then on I was alright to surf. We scored a few waves around the Sydney south coast area and sort of went from there I guess.
How have you decided where you base yourselves?
Plans sort of change on the road and with all this covid stuff you don’t really know what’s going to happen. Basically, I’ve just been talking to friends and connections in all different parts of the country and asking what they’re thinking of their home area - if it’s the right time to come for a surf. After the South Coast, we didn’t really have a plan, and thought we’d go a bit slower, take our time to go through the Snowy Mountains and Victoria. Then a few of the covid cases started popping up and borders started getting a bit weird so we bee-lined it across to the desert. Part of this was wanting to get away from home and not just feeling like we’re in the New South Walesy area. We still have no plan exactly, whether we go one day or another, we’re making a decision based on what the ocean is going to do! When we get a run of swell I’ll be chasing waves around, then when I have some downtime I’ll have a crack at doing some design work and otherwise look at the swell charts to try and score waves in the areas where we’re hanging. As my work skills have increased it's made it easier for Ryan and me to work remotely for a time. It’s one of the luxuries of the internet, being able to take your work on the road.
Tell us about travelling with the family?
Family life on the road has been amazing. When we started living in the camper we just kept wondering why we all have such big houses. It was so good to realise how little you need in life. We’re all confined in this little campervan but we all love each other so we’re happy to be living on top of each other - it’s absolutely perfect for us. We’ve been having an absolute ball and I hope it’s planting a seed in my kids' minds too. It’s just made us realise how refreshing it is to get out of your hometown sometimes so you get the opportunity to see things from a new perspective. I’m so grateful to be able to do this and to have the time to go and explore Australia. There’s so much of this country that even as a travelled surfer I haven’t seen. You could go around Australia and lots of times you go down a different road and have a different set of experiences. I’m seeing the kids change and grow up so quickly being around them all day. The learning they are getting out of this is amazing, something that can’t be taught in a schoolroom. Bron’s been really good with home schooling too. When I sit down and do my design work, Bron and Islya sit down and do theirs and Chase, the 5-year-old, is doing his ABCs. For my work, it's been amazing being able to test products in such a variety of conditions and work on improvements while we are experiencing first-hand how they perform. Midwinter in a van in the South of the country provides a perfect testing ground for wetsuits and gear.
Have you caught up with friends along the way?
We've definitely run into a lot of old mates on the road. Being a travelling surfer, you become close friends with so many people when you’re around the world and it’s been epic to catch up with some of those people on this trip. Where we are now, I met a mate I hadn’t seen for 12 years, just me and him out trading barrels all day - days like that are as good as it gets.
Are you surfing on your own very much?
I’ve had a few sessions where I’m surfing waves on my own where I’ve definitely had eerie feelings. There's a lot of ocean life in this part of the world. One session in particular I just ended up paddling in, not feeling it. It’s a small downside to some of these spots in Australia but it’s an upside too because it keeps the crowds down. You really just have to listen to your intuition in remote areas.
What’s next?
The family are all looking forward to getting up to the warmer northwest. After that, who knows. Australia is such a big, diverse country with waves...hopefully, I’ll experience a few more of them on the way. We have absolutely no plan on where we could be but I’d love to line up a few surf spots when the biggest swells of the winter arrive.
So you’re all happy having no fixed address at the moment?
I’m stoked to be doing what we have got to do this year. It’s been really nice to get to travel again the way we’re doing it, not travelling overseas, just seeing what’s in our own country. We’re now pretty much going to try to get over to West Aus, do the colder winter months in the northwest. The biggest thing you hear people talking about at the moment is how busy it is… I think realistically we all just have to block that out and enjoy where we are - we live in Australia: we’re pretty lucky. Anyone who’s having a whinge, may be on the wrong page. I don’t mind if it’s going to be busy, there’s always somewhere that’s quiet. I’m just looking forward to jumping in the water and showing my family some of the special places that I’ve been lucky enough to travel to over the years and check out some spots I haven’t ever been to. Even driving across the country from home, some of the things we’ve seen that have nothing to do with surfing or the ocean are just amazing. I’m so lucky, it’s a dream really to be doing this with my family.
